[pp.int.general] Master's thesis | derailed

[Patrick Godschalk]

Oh hey, it's this discussion. That has never happened ever in the
history of the internet!

Both Linux and GNU/Linux are correct. It is entirely possible to create
a Linux distribution that does not use the GNU userland. Android is an
example, using largely proprietary programs rather than GNU's - making
it explicitly "Linux". In *most* (but evidently, not all) cases
GNU/Linux is also correct to refer to the combination of the GNU
userland and the Linux kernel.

A better discussion would be, who the bloody hell cares. Whether you
call it Linux, GNU/Linux, Lignus or "Debian GNU/Linux With The Charybdis
Internet Relay Chat Daemon And Atheme Services Made By The Atheme
Project And Coded In C Compiled By The GNU's Not Unix C Compiler Using
Bison And Flex". Nobody actually cares. People still know what you're
referring to.

That said, GNU's attempt to insist on usage of GNU/Linux is getting a
bit tiresome. They invented the GNU userland, they didn't invent the way
people use words to refer to things. This is just as hilarious as Adobe
doing this:

<http://www.adobe.com/legal/permissions/trademarks.html#photoshoptrademark>

If getting the GNU name out there is of massive importance, focus on
finishing the GNU Hurd instead. (Though, people will still likely just
call it Hurd, just as people say photoshopped instead of saying "this
image was enhanced using Adobe(r) Photoshop(r) Elements(r) software")
-- 
Patrick Godschalk
patrick.godschalk at piratenpartij.nl
GPG: <https://argure.nl/identity/ecc14958.asc>
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